HÀ NỘI — Lacquerpaintings belong to the Vietnamese, said Bùi Thị Thanh Mai, deputy-director of the Việt Nam Museum of Fine Arts, while concluding a seminar onlacquerart held yesterday in Hà Nội.

“Some countries like Britain, France and Germany also showcase lacquer paintings, but the term sơn mài [lacquer] was created by Vietnamese,” Mai said. “Sơn màicomprises two words sơn (lacquer) and mài (grind) which relate to the material and process used to make asơn màipainting.

“Let young artists be free to explore and create art like our masters. The history of lacquer orsơn màiart is built from contributions from each country in the world, and Việt Nam played an important role in the development of lacquerart.”

Mai made the conclusion after listening to ten presentations and opinions from the seminar participants.

The seminar, entitled Tranh Sơn Mài – Chất Liệu và Nghệ Thuật(Lacquer Painting – Materials and the Art) was co-held by the museum and the Hanoi Goethe Institute, with participation fromlacquerpainters; art critics; and experts and lecturers from Việt Nam; Germany; the Netherlands and France.

Participants were introduced to the concept oflacquerpainting; the history of lacquer art; as well as specific requirements forlacquermaterials and the preservation and restoration oflacquerpaintings at the Việt Nam Museum of Fine Arts.

From the German Museum of Lacquer Art Munster, director Monika Kopplin introduced the style and techniques developed by European lacquer artists, whilst Dave van Gompel from the Netherlands, an expert in the restoration of Japanese lacquer painting analysed Japan’s modern lacquer works in the context of preservation and development.

Expert Gompel also said that artists must respect the old, but not fear the new. They should avoid the widening gap between artists and craftsmen; cherish the material, farmers and tool makers; invest in education and communication; explore markets outside Việt Nam and invest in conservation and preservation.

The first Vietnameselacquerpaintings were made by students at École Superieure des Beaux Arts de I’Indochine (IndochinaFineArtColleges) in the 1930s.

The Vietnamese people had been using resin from thelacquertree to make crafts and valuable objects for hundreds of years, including objects of religious value.

“After visiting Văn Miếu (The Temple of Literature) with Vietnamese students, French teacher Joseph Inguimberty realised the potential oflacquer resin,which was used in the temple’s decorations.

He noticed the beautiful gilded and lacquered objects and architectural elements. He suggested his students experiment withlacquer resinas a painting material, as an alternative to the traditional western techniqe of oil painting,” said artist Đoàn Văn Nguyên. Nguyên is veteran lacquerpainter and lecturer at the Việt Nam Fine Arts University.

Nguyên stressed that Vietnameselacquerwas quite different from its Chinese counterpart.

“Vietnameselacquerpaintings are covered and ground many times withlacquer resinbefore the artist inlays crushed egg shells, gold, silver and other materials”. Nguyên also reveals that he has successfully restored his lacquerpaintings which were partly damaged by oxygen. He is ready to co-operate with the museum to restore damagedlacquermasterpieces. His own lacquerpainting is also in the museum’s collection.

Art critic Nguyễn Hải Yến also participated in the seminar. She spoke aboutlacquermaster Nguyễn Gia Trí. He was one of the first artists who took uplacquer resinas a new painting medium and is now considered the greatest exponent of Vietnameselacquerpainting.

“Artist Trí stopped his studies at the Indochina Fine Arts College for many years to focus on drawing. During this time, he noticed differences when using lacquer resinto make traditional craft objects and make paintings,” said Yến.

“He madelacquer resinpopular in modern painting.”

Art critic Yến also said that during the early part of his career, hislacquerpaintings accorded with the romantic colonial style and ideals, but he soon began experimenting successfully with more abstract concepts.

Yến also expressed her desire to make lacquerpaintings a Vietnamese trademark in the world.

Lacquerpainting was a milestone for Vietnamese fine art, but how it will be preserved in the museum is an issue that many participants at the seminar were concerned with. The museum’s former deputy-directors Nguyễn Ánh Nguyệt and Nguyễn Xuân Tiệp gave presentations about lacquerpainting preservation in the museum.

Nguyệt highlighted achievements in restoring some master works, including Nguyễn Gia Trí’s master workThiếu Nữ Trong Vườn(Girls in The Garden). The painting was damaged by bullets in the American war. The big holes were treated but the lines and colours were not. Meanwhile Tiệp is worried about backwards infrastructure and urges the use of technology to preserve thelacquerpainting collection in the museum.

“The lacquerpainting collection is very big, due to many reasons the number of restored paintings is very few,” said Tiệp. “It requires the best materials to restore the damaged works.”

Deputy Director Mai thanked the participants for attending the seminar and highly appreciated the opinions which will help the museum to preserve, restore and popularise Việt Nam’slacquerpaintings. — VNS